The Pittsburgh Penguins [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/pittsburgh-penguins] will play the first half of this weekend's back-to-back on Saturday against the New York Rangers [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-york-rangers]. This will be the Penguins' second and final trip to Madison Square Garden this season after beating the Rangers 3-0 in their first game of the season. The Penguins have won two of the three matchups between the two teams this year and will win the season series if they emerge victorious on Saturday. The Penguins are coming off a 4-1 win over the New Jersey Devils [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-jersey-devils] on Thursday and have won two in a row heading into this game. Meanwhile, the Rangers are coming off a 3-2 overtime loss against the Philadelphia Flyers [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/philadelphia-flyers] and have lost five in a row. It's been a horrendous season for the Rangers, who find themselves at the bottom of the Eastern Conference. They've already waved the white flag and are prepared to sell even more before next Friday's trade deadline. However, they still have a couple of great players, including star goaltender Igor Shesterkin. He's back healthy and is one of the best goaltenders in the NHL. The fact that he has a .912 save percentage behind this Rangers' defense is a miracle. Defenseman Adam Fox is also back healthy and does it all on the backend. He's exceptional in all three zones and does a great job quarterbacking the top power play unit. Mika Zibanejad is having a really strong year on a bad Rangers team, compiling 23 goals and 52 points in 57 games. He's been playing on the top line with Rangers captain JT Miller, who just won a Gold Medal with Team USA at the Winter Olympics. The Penguins are expected to run with the same lines and pairs from Thursday's game after head coach Dan Muse told the media [https://x.com/Joe_Brand1/status/2027769368084680766?s=20] on Saturday morning that Sam Girard is available. Girard missed Friday's practice because he was being evaluated for an injury. Forwards Chinakhov-Novak-Malkin A. Hayes-Rakell-Rust Mantha-Kindel-Brazeau Dewar-Lizotte-Acciari Defensive pairs Wotherspoon-Karlsson Girard-Letang Shea-Clifton Stuart Skinner will start in goal for the Penguins after he backed up Arturs Silovs on Thursday. Puck drop is set for 12:30 p.m. ET on ABC. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bookmark THN - Pittsburgh Penguins on your Google News tab [https://news.google.com/publications/CAAqBwgKMK-q0gsw7sXpAw/sections/CAQqEAgAKgcICjCvqtILMO7F6QMwquDfCA?hl=en-CA&gl=CA&ceid=CA%3Aen] to follow the latest Penguins news, roster moves, player features, and more!
